


A Stroke of Fate

by Doombunny96750



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:22:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doombunny96750/pseuds/Doombunny96750
Summary: How do you fight your fate?





	A Stroke of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an orginal work i'm working on, its been over a year in the process. I have quite a bit done, however, updates will be when I feel like it lol, or have time.

In the beginning, there was peace.

The world was a vast place, inhabited by a benevolent spirit. The land was pure, the water appeared as if it were made of crystal. And yet the spirit found herself lonely. Day after day she tried to busy herself with creating and caring for the land. She even tried to enjoy her peace, but every night when she would rest, the crushing feeling of isolation would always come back to haunt her. This went on for many years until she had an idea; she would create life forms. People who looked like her, people who shared in her power, people that she could teach how to live peacefully.

So she got to work and created two little boys one with blond hair, one with dark hair. To the blond, she gave the power to control time, to the dark-haired child she gave the power to control fate. It seemed as if she had found just the thing to stave off her isolation and bring a smile to her face. She was now a mother.

“You can choose your names.” She told the two one day, “What would you like to be called?”

It had amused the spirit to hear them choose the name of their powers as their own given names. But she had let it go, names had power and had they ever wanted new names, all they had to do was choose them.

Raising children had not been what she expected, Time had taken to using his power on the creatures of the world, choosing to speed up their time and watch them die. It had been cruel and made the Spirit’s heart hurt every time she saw the bones, every time she had to comfort Fate as he felt the deaths.

“Mother.” Fate said quietly, “He’s insane, isn’t he? Doesn’t he know the value of a life?”

She had no answer, she just pulled the child to her and held him as he started to shake. It was hard watching Fate as he felt the deaths of those around him. She had spent many a night watching the boy sob through another soul’s dying. The more it happened, the more she had seen Fate pull into himself, refusing to speak or even look at her or Time. It had broken her heart, even more, when she realized that he had stopped speaking altogether.

“Mother. Thank you.” Time had spoken to her one day when the two had come of age, “But I’m going on my own now. I want to learn things how I desire. “

She tried, she truly did. But she couldn’t stop Time from leaving. Fate however just stood there as he watched his brother leave their home.

“Do you want to join him?”

Fate hadn’t left. She didn’t understand why the child, no the man had chosen to stay. He was upset, he wouldn’t tell her why but she could only chalk it up to something that he had seen. The foresight she had given him was more a curse than a blessing it had seemed. She just wished he would tell her what he had seen.

It wasn’t until she came home with more children, a girl who decided to call herself Death and a boy who hadn’t said a word since he was created that Fate finally spoke.

“The lines say that I’m to kill you.” He told his mother quietly.

The spirit paused to take in the information, kill her? How could one of her children kill her? She was their creator and their mother. They simply didn’t have the power to kill her and she knew it. But why didn’t Fate?

“You can explain?” She offered.

“I don’t know how.” Was the only response that she had gotten.

It was hard, but she had finally gotten her son to speak on a more frequent basis until he was joking with Death and fighting with her other son. She smiled as she saw the group, it was time for her to take her to leave, to watch her children grow from afar. They had peace. Now she knew that Time didn’t, his heart was full of chaos and the desire to fight. But these children here, they had peace. She was proud.

The pride was in her heart when she realized that it was time to leave. Fate was a good man, and he would watch over Death and their brother and all those that she sent to him. It was time to let her children go on their own and make their path.

And there was still peace.

One whos name was erased from history, a punishment set to his crime, created creatures that he called humans. These creatures looked like the People and their mother, but the difference was that they had no magic within them. They were essentially powerless. All was well with these humans for a time, the peace that the people had enjoyed continued, until one day an army was called on and the people found themselves fearing for their lives.

The people had magic, the humans wanted it and they were willing to kill to get it.

However, it must be noted that not all of the humans were warlike. There was a civilization that worshiped the people, whom they called gods. They strived to keep these people that had never known war peaceful. They knew that if their gods were angered there would be a war that humankind couldn’t come back from. The world would cease to exist and everything that it was promised to be would not come to pass.

But as it often would happen the praise went to some of the people’s heads and they began to crave it. A sect of the people broke off from the others, making temples and creating places where the humans could be taught to obey them.

The others tried to live in peace for as long as they could until the humans were in their territory. Golden blood flooded their homes as the humans came with weapons that they had never seen. People were thrown into a state of stasis as the weapons drained their powers.

Opting to hide, the people refused to fight back, until one of them, a light-haired man stood up towards the humans.

“We have the power. We just have to use it.” He insisted. “We can stop them from taking our lives from us. You all just have to buy me time to reset the world. I can get rid of the humans for us all. I can bring our peace back.”

“By erasing time?” Another, a man with dark hair, snorted, “You do realize that even you cannot reset that much.”

“Time is who I am. If you all just allow me to show them…” His eyes widened as the other man glared his way.

“You’ll destroy reality.” The man sneered back, “You can’t be allowed.”

“Then rewrite reality. You control their fates, rewrite them.”

“I prefer to see how this plays out. It may be less painful than you believe.”

“Fool. You are Fate. Their fates are yours to control. You can stop this easier than any of us can.”

The laughing made everyone in the room look at Fate as if he were mad.

“They’re children. Why can’t we teach them not to kill?” Fate suggested, amused with the looks he had gotten from his people. “Why can’t we protect them, and help them. It could be beneficial.”

“Teach them not to kill? Teach them not to kill?!” Time yelled back at him, “Are you mad?”

“I suppose it is possible.” Fate gave an easy grin, “I’ve been called stranger than mad.” He pushed the other man back into his seat and grinned. “Try reaching out to them. I mean others have. Why can’t you? Are you scared?”

“I don’t fear humans.”

“Then prove it, talk to them.” Fate goaded him, chuckling as he saw it was working. “Teach them our ways and some will follow. In time they all will follow.”

It took three months for Time to reach out to the humans, unaware that as he did Death approached Fate. The woman had asked for his help. It had seemed that she met a human and wanted to escape with him to live out my life and have a family.

The lines around his fellow god were strong, they weren’t just the usual black that he had grown used to seeing with her, a sort of yellow had started to breach into them. A human’s fate line was tied into her own and that made Fate smile. He was right. He knew he was right. The humans weren’t all evil, just like his people weren’t all good.

“Your family will be glorious.” He smiled as the pale woman seemed close to tears as he spoke. “It may be rough at first, but your line will go on for centuries.”

“Thank you.” Usually, people became hostile when Fate used his foresight on them, it was unusual that Death would have been okay with it, “Will you watch over them? Will you guard my family?”

“With my life. Now come on. We don’t have much longer before Time realizes why I sent him off. My potion will guard you, shift your appearance to those who you don’t wish to know who you are.”

Fate saw Death off, smiling when he was introduced to Stephen. He was a good man. A man that Fate was proud to see one of his own go off with. He just hoped that he could keep Time from realizing where she was. She wasn’t his and he refused to let the other lay claim to Death like that. Time had never taken that kind and that usually made things tense between the two. 

For a while, it had worked. Time had no idea where Death had gone and had realized that maybe humans weren’t so bad after all. It had shocked Fate that Time had even led their people into peace with humankind.

Peace was glorious, and Fate was relieved. He had postponed it for a while, that had been his only goal. Postpone when Time would try to take over.

It was times like this that he cursed his foresight.

He saw it, clear as day. Time would learn of Death’s marriage and family to a human and he would strike, leaving devastation and death in his wake. He would send Death into stasis, making it near impossible for her to guide her grandson into the power he would inherit.

Time would destroy the boy’s parents and his sister, he would manage to trick Stephen into signing his ability to be around the boy away, leaving the child to be alone, to become the type of human that they had all feared in the beginning.

And there was nothing that Fate could do. The lines were drawn, as clear as he was able to tell, the lines of fate were drawn and the land would fall into inevitable war. And it would be because of the boy. That much never made sense to him, no matter how often he allowed himself to see into the future. If the boy was taken out of the picture, perhaps taken to be raised elsewhere, maybe Fate could save this world from destruction.

It was an easy decision, go for the boy. Find out if Death would allow him to raise her grandson. Of course, there would be visits, the boy would know where he had come from, but he had to get him out of that place.

It just happened that he was too late.

He smelt the blood before he saw it. The blood of the gods had a sweet smell about it, Fate always saw it as better than human blood. Who wanted to smell like metal when they were bleeding anyway? He wished he could speak to the nameless one and find out what he was thinking when he created these humans.

Death had been struck by one of the human’s weapons and was in stasis. Her son and his wife were dead, Fate saw the bodies in the front as he had entered the cabin. The girl. Where was the girl? He glanced around puzzled that he hadn’t heard the cries. He was even more puzzled when he realized that the girl’s lines weren’t in the house. It was as if she had been completely erased from time.

It was the boy’s cries that he heard. The toddler sobbing over Stephen’s prone body. Fate stiffened a moment. In all honesty, he had barely any idea of how to talk to adult humans, the fact that he would need to speak to a true child terrified him. But the boy needed him. He knew that.

Going to kneel by the child he paused; the boy’s lines were interweaving with his own. That was impossible. Fate had no kinship to this child. There was no reason for the child to be tied to his existence. It was almost as if the boy’s fate was to be his thrall.

“No.” Fate said quietly, shaking his head, “I won’t do to him what my kind do to others. He has his free will.”

His declaration meant nothing though, as the boy’s lines kept mixing with his own. He debated leaving, sending someone else to save the child, but before he could go the child looked up at him, terror in his blue eyes.

“I won’t hurt you.” Fate said holding his palms out, “I need you to trust me.”

The wails got louder and the god winced. This is why he didn’t want children.

“Hey.” He tried again, “Tyler. Right?” He waited for the nod before continuing, “Your grandma is just asleep. And when she wakes you won’t be alone anymore.”

He didn’t want to tell the child that Stephen wasn’t dead, that Stephen had been enthralled by Time himself.

“Your grandmother will come back. Can you trust me? Just for a while?” He forced an easy-going smile in hopes that the boy would come to him. It worked because moments after he spoke the boy ran into his arms and started sobbing once again.

Great. How do you comfort children? Fate vaguely wondered as he picked the boy up.

A noise startled him and his eyes widened as he saw Stephen start to get up.

“Gwampa?” Tyler said quietly.

“No, it is not him anymore.” Fate said shaking his head, “The bad man took him away from you. I’m sorry.”

What happened next was alarming to Fate, as he had no idea it was going to happen. Tyler started to scream. As he did, a black light came from his mouth and enveloped Stephen.

Whatever it was, Fate wasn’t sure, it seemed to bring the man back to himself for the moment.

“Oh, God,” Stephen said when he saw the destruction. “Oh, God. He did it. He got us.”

“He did.” Fate nodded once, subconsciously tightening his arms around the child he held. “He came for this one. I’m still not sure why.”

“You have to take him,” Stephen spoke quickly. “He can’t find you. Please. Take him. Keep him safe.”

“You’re back though.” Fate said cocking a brow. “He should stay with family.”

“No.” Stephen shook his head, “Tyler isn’t strong enough, he’s just deferring it for the time. I can still feel Time inside me. You are his godfather. Now I know it’s a human term you don’t understand, my wife told me it confused you, but you’re his guardian now. Please. Keep him safe.”

Oh. So our fate’s do meet. Fate frowned for a moment before nodding. I won’t make him mindless. He will be whomever he wishes to be.

“We have to go Tyler.” Fate said, “Say goodbye to your grandpa. You’ll see him soon.”

It had worked, for a time. Fate had gone back to his peace in his home, the boy as his ward. It had worked, Tyler adored the god for reasons that the god had never been able to see. And Fate raised him to be a kind human, one that searched for peace in every situation.

They can be taught. Fate thought to himself as he saw the now teenager outside, Humans can be taught our way of life. I wonder…I wonder if Time had known…

Tyler had been five when Fate had received news of the war. Humans against gods. It was a war that neither side would win.

“Why do they want to die?” The boy had questioned him, more curious than upset at the news.

“They want power.” Fate said solemnly, “This war is for power.”

“Will they kill me?” the question had been innocent natured, not from a child that feared the idea of dying, but rather from a child who was simply wondering what his life would bring.

“I won't let them.” Fate promised the boy, “You belong to me Tyler. I’ll protect you.”

It had been a lie, one that Fate had regretted telling every day since. When the time came and he would have to go into stasis, Tyler would be alone. And he had no idea if he would even see the boy again.

Once again he cursed his foresight. Time would find a way to reset the world, in a fashion that he would want. And in the process, everyone in existence would become as Time wished. He would be more than just a leader among their people, he would be the ultimate King. It was a vision that Fate had seen time and time again since he had helped Death escape. The most distressing part to the god was the fact that he would have to leave the human he had grown fond of, behind. 

He had never wanted children, Fate never even wanted a family. He couldn’t bring himself to grow close to anyone when if he truly wished, he would be able to see their entire lives. And yet as the days passed the child he had taken in had stubbornly taken over his life and secured a place in his heart.

He just wished he didn’t have to leave him behind. The second that Fate did, Time would be able to find Tyler, and Tyler would be lost.

There had to be another way, a way that Fate couldn’t see. He had searched, looked through Tyler’s fate lines as well as the fate lines of several of his people, and he came up with nothing. Every single time there was nothing. Fate would spend eternity in stasis for a slim hope that he could stop Time.

Most days he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to. He had to agree with his fellow god. Humans had caused a rift in their society. War had been learned, people had sacrificed. Many would never even come out of their stasis, their power having been drained to the point of never waking. Humans did nothing but kill and destroy everywhere they went. Then he would see his human friend and the thoughts would fade, he would remember why he wanted to save the human race, and remember the vows he had taken.

“Why don’t you look through your own fate lines?” Tyler had asked him when Fate had expressed his frustration and sorrow at the path he had to take, “You could gather ideas from that.”

“I can’t change my own life.” Fate cocked a brow, “I thought I taught you that you can’t change your path in life.”

“If my grandmother thought that, I wouldn’t exist.”

Tyler was right, Fate didn’t want to admit it, but he was right.

“You’ve grown wise.” Fate said slowly, a smile playing at his lips, “I’m proud of you.”

He chuckled when the teenager had flushed with the praise.

“Now if you don’t mind, we can postpone our outing to town?” Fate asked carefully, “I’d like to search my own line today.”

“Aw come on. You just said I was wise. Time’s banned from the town. I’ll be okay if I go on my own. You know I will.” Tyler wheedled out, “Please let me go to the shops. Please.”

“Fifteen and you’re already begging.” Fate raised a brow. “You’re to return before sundown.”

Tyler hugged him briefly and left him in the cabin amused. This child would be what gave him gray hair, he was sure of it.

Following the lines of fate was a complicated procedure when it was another’s line, but here sitting in his cabin, Fate found that finding his own was nearly impossible. He had to know the possibility of the future, he had to save Tyler and all the other humans.

They were worth protecting.

It took what felt like hours before a line appeared in front of his own. He plucked it out and felt the instant dread.

No. This was wrong. This was today. Tyler had kept to himself, Fate knew he had. The boy didn’t trust his people, so why were his kind surrounding the human. Why were they coming for his son? He was his! He raised him, he taught him, they had no say over him! Fate tried to stand up but as with his foresight, he was stuck in the vision.

“Hello?” Tyler questioned as the gods stood around him, “Can I help you all?”

“We can help you.” The female with the scarf over her eyes said calmly, “We can show you what it is you lack. I can give you your sight back.”

Fate was proud when he heard Tyler snort at that.

“I can see just fine thank you.” He said politely, “I need to return home. Please excuse me.”

The woman grabbed his arm and Tyler’s eyes narrowed.

“Unhand me. I need to return home.” Tyler demanded, “I don’t want to harm you. Please.”

“You’re human. I doubt you could harm me.” The woman said blithely, “My master wants to speak with you Tyler. It seems you have something that he wants.”

“And that is?” Tyler barked, and Fate could see the anger in the boy, it reminded him of his grandmother when Time had first challenged her.

“You hold the key to resetting reality boy.” The woman found herself blown backward as black energy started flowing from Tyler. She smiled. “Master, He’s ready for you.”

A blonde man strode into the pathway and stopped in front of Tyler.

“Tyler I’m so overjoyed to meet you.” Time gave him an exaggerated bow, “I’ve come to offer you a chance of a lifetime my boy. A chance to make history.”

“And erase humanity? I’ve been told what you want.”

“You’d still exist, you’re meant to exist, boy, your soul is strong. You’d just be one of us.”

“I’m fine. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He made to leave, paling as he felt a tugging in his heart. The pain grew as he hit his knees gasping.

“It won’t do to argue with me boy.” Time said calmly, “I can age any part of your body. Hell, I could kill you where you stand, and there is nothing you or your caretaker can do about it.”

“What do you want?” Tyler grunted, gasping for breath.

“You’re the first. Well no. Your father was the first. But you’re the only one living.” Time said kneeling by him, forcing the boy to stare into his eyes, “Your power will propel us back in time. You will save my people.”

Fate jolted out of the vision when he heard Tyler scream in agony. Time was killing him and he wouldn’t get there in time.

Jumping up the god ran to the town, hardly stopping as the sky above them began to turn black.

When he got to the pathway his blood ran cold. Tyler was face-down on the grassy land as Time chuckled.

“You know I almost didn’t find him.” Time said conversationally, “But he had asked Justice here for directions. You should never ask Lady Justice a thing you know. She remembers all.”

This was odd. Fate felt an unfamiliar feeling take over his very being as he stared at the man he hadn’t seen for years. Is this what they call rage? He wondered as Time found himself falling forward onto the ground.

“You perfected that move did you?” Time snickered, “You didn’t even touch me, my friend.” He pushed himself up, “I can preserve his soul, I can let you have him back in another life.”

Fate didn’t respond, just stared calmly at him. He couldn’t age Time forward, he couldn’t drop him dead as he had seen Death do several times(the man always got back up to everyone’s displeasure) but he could try to stop this. Whatever this was.

“It takes a halfling’s death to give me the power to reset reality. It’s a big step after all.” Time stated, frowning when Fate kneeled by Tyler and frowned.

“This isn’t right.” Fate whispered, the boy’s prone body nearly bringing him to tears, “This isn’t right. You aren’t supposed to die here. You’re supposed to have more time.”

He had sworn he wouldn’t enthrall the boy, but he had to. It would be the only way Tyler could survive. A portion of Fate’s power would be thrust into his heart and all Fate would be able to do was pray it was enough.

“You’re mine.” Fate whispered over the corpse, feeling the sliver of power leave his body and enveloped the teenager in a golden light.

He looked up at the sky as he felt Tyler start to breathe again. The pitch-black magic seemed to be lowering its self at a rapid rate, and Fate knew it would engulf the town before any of them could throw a defense up.

This isn't what I thought would happen when I went into stasis. Fate mused when he felt the pulling of the magic. He had no idea Time had known how to create these portals, but here it was, sucking up the fate lines of the entire world.

“The balance must be preserved.” Fate finally spoke aloud, standing as he did. “I won’t allow this.”

“The others agree with me, it was decided while you hid away and played nursemaid to the child.” Time barked, “We will reset reality. We will change fate.”

“I hold fate in my hands. Not any of you.” Fate snorted, “You have no right trespassing on what is mine.” He started funneling his power into the portal. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but what good would he be if he let this happen.

Rest sounded heavenly right about now. He smiled as he saw one of Time’s fate lines and glanced at it.

“Ah, so that’s how to do it.” Fate chuckled, “good luck resetting me. I am eternal.”

He heard Tyler sit up and looked at him.

“It won’t be forever.”He told the teenager before he could even get a word out. “Hell, it looks like you and I will have that adventure you used to bother me about.”

The pain of funneling his power into the portal started to catch up to him, and his body began to fade slowly. He shook his head when he saw Death staring at him.

“Neither of you will remember.” She whispered, a stricken look upon her face.

“I know.” Fate replied, “But Tyler’s always told me that family will always find away. He’s my family now.”

It was odd that it took fading to admit that out loud. The boy was his family. And whatever Fate’s power did to Time’s portal, they would figure out how to solve it when Fate gained his real power.

The world would need him in the end.

The child blessed by misfortune.

It all started in a mud puddle with a little girl that the world forgot. A little girl that found solace in the rain, when the sky opened up and one could feel at peace with the world. It all started with a little girl who wanted to feel the ground peel away as she let her frustrations out in little grunts and noises. Here she could be in charge, here she could do as she wanted, it didn’t matter that she wasn’t needed, that she wasn’t wanted, it didn’t matter that her mother didn’t love her. This was her domain. It didn’t matter-

“You could change your destiny you know.” The little girl looked up to see a dark-haired man staring at her. How strange, he didn’t look like any of her mother’s friends, though it was possible he just hadn’t used any of the weird nose salt.

“No thank you. My Mommy won’t like it.” The little girl went back to her digging, not seeing the man’s pained expression as his appearance flickered on and off.

“Oh come on. Wouldn’t it be fun?” the man grinned, watching the girl dig. “No? It wouldn’t? Do you like living like this?”

She ignored his question and pulled out a clump of mud, watching it turn over in her fingers, frowning as it dripped onto the ground only to be washed away in the rain. The man knelt by her and smiled kindly.

“When I was little I liked playing in the mud as well.” He commented, grinning a bit when she finally looked at him. “I always talked someone into cleaning my clothing though.”

“I clean my own.” The child answered curiously, “Why didn’t you?”

“I was lazy.” He answered with a snicker, not missing a beat even if he wanted to cry for the child. “Now. Would you like to change your fate? Save the world? Everyone needs a hero. You could be theirs.” He held out what appeared to be an old notebook to the child, smiling again when she took it and ran her fingers over the leather binding.

“What is this?”

“A book, when you read it you’ll have power.”

The little girl opened the book and stared at the words, frowning when she realized they were written in an entirely different language.

“But I don’t understand!” she exclaimed looking back up at the kind man.

“Try again.” He urged her.

Her eyes widened when he let a yell of pain out. “Damn. I can’t hold it.”

“Sir?”

He turned back to her and she blinked to see him flicker this time. “You can save everyone.” He implored her, almost frantically, “I am sorry Annabelle, but it has to be you.”

He vanished before the girl could respond, leaving her alone, confused as to what she had just witnessed.

“Mommy!” Annabelle yelled as she ran into the cluttered house, after gaining her senses. The man had to be wrong. She was just a child, her mother’s disgrace, she couldn’t save anyone, so obviously he meant her mother. “Mommy?”

It was quiet as Annabelle looked around the mess, she was so sure that someone would be there, even if it was one of her mother’s sleepover buddies. The child wrinkled her nose as she briefly remembered walking to see her mother and a man naked. She wondered where her mother was, before sighing and sitting down on a box, her thoughts turning to the notebook the strange man had given her. What language was it written in? She opened it again and gasped as the words rearranged into English.

Sometimes I hear him, mocking me, berating me for not saving him. I couldn’t, why can’t he understand that I couldn’t save him from his fate, no-one can escape their fate. I just didn’t know this would be mine.

I couldn’t. I should have done something. He was my friend. Why didn’t I try? Why wasn’t I quicker! There were spots on the page that Annabelle thought looked like water, or like when she would get a bloody nose and bleed on her books. Stop it! Get out of my head! I’m sorry! Don’t make me hurt anyone else! I’m sorry! Please I’m sorry!

She dropped the book at that, this man hurt someone? Why had it been given to her? She was a child, maybe the man wanted her to turn it into the police? Annabelle turned to leave, making it to the door when she saw a different man there. He was watching her, anger evident in his features.

“Are you one of my Mommy’s friends?” She asked she didn’t have time for any of the men who watched her, less time if he was one of the ones that liked to play those weird games with her. When he didn’t answer she frowned. “Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.” She didn’t recognize his voice, even in the darkest nights she would recognize their voices, this man was unknown, and that terrified the child. The unknown was bad, it was almost as bad as when her mother yelled at her or let her boyfriend have her.

“Then please leave.” Annabelle refused to let her voice falter, she picked up the journal and watched him start towards her. “I need to find someone to help.”

She made to go past him and gasped when she felt a searing pain in her side, tears came to her eyes automatically as she felt herself thrown back into the crowded house. The man stood over her, smiling at her fallen form.

“You have something that I need.” He said calmly, pulling the blade out of her side. Blood pooled on the ground as the child’s eyes widened. He took the journal and smiled again, a sick twisted smile that would disturb the most calloused of person. “Just close your eyes and go to sleep, the pain will stop soon”


End file.
